Paris Guide

from the Green line

Below you'll find a recap of my Paris trip taken at the beginning of summer. I admit I was thinking, well it's way overdue. I was also thinking of skipping a recap altogether because, hey, there's no shortage of Paris travel guides out there. But then, a good friend said she and her S.O. were heading to France for a couple weeks and asked for my itinerary. 

I was happy to share the details because I've been thinking of the France trip ever since I returned stateside. In many ways it was a comfortable, almost familiar, trip - developed, Western nation, many English speakers, easy Metro systems, large metropolitan cities as well as some quaint little towns (I already wrote about staying in Cannes and hanging around the French Riviera). But it was still great to see everything for myself, to practice French, and to observe any differences between Parisian culture and that of say, San Francisco or NYC, or how some styles are spread around the world. 

There were times around Paris (around the Pigalle and the Canal) that I felt like, wow, they out-Brooklyn'd Brooklyn (see: my new favorite bar). There were also instances when I was reminded of more serious issues such as politics around business/workforce problems, and ideological differences - such as when we had to figure out our transportation when strikes were going on, or when we inadvertently avoided a huge protest taking place by our Airbnb. This is a crazy world we all have to navigate, no matter where we are.

truth (original article)

I was only in Paris for five days, which in my eyes was not nearly enough time. Thankfully you can still get a good sense of the city, especially if you walk and use the Metro, because both offer you so much good people watching where you can see "everyday" city dwellers, and you can see the different kinds of architecture around the city. Many places we hit up were recommended by friends and their friends, which is my favorite way of getting travel advice. And with that, word for word, is what I gave my friend - and now you - on Paris.

Le Comptoir

Le Comptoir

Paris: the best advice I can give you is to pack some comfy slippers or buy the padded 10-euro ones at Muji (which I ended up doing) because even though I wore comfortable shoes, we walked so much that my feet were aching and slippers felt awesome at the end of the day. 2nd best advice is to shop at the Franprix for cheap (but good) wine and other groceries

• Trocadero: First two nights we stayed in a small hotel in Trocadero so we ate in the bistros around the circle ... had drinks at Sir Winston and this college pub called The Freedom. Good area for reaching all the touristy stuff by walking or Metro without staying right next to them. Mo and I were thinking the area is like the Upper East Side.
• Canal Saint Martin: For the weekend we switched to an Airbnb by Canal Saint Martin and I loved this area! We stopped using the Metro without meaning to - we just walked everywhere - up to Sacre Coeur, all the way down to La Marais and back up to our neighborhood. On Sunday we picnic'd along the canal (there's a Franprix grocery store right there). This is definitely the Brooklyn of Paris.
• La Verre Vole - a bunch of Americans recommended it, then I realized it's one of Anthony Bourdain's picks. But my boss (who's French) also recommended it, and it was really good
• Le Comptoir General - coolest bar I've been to, hands down. After dinner at La Verre Vole we came here and left only because our friends couldn't get in (but, their fault for not arriving until 1am). Went back during the day and it's a cool coffee house/lounge
• Du Pain et Des Idees - also a Bourdain pick, but clearly a local favorite. Open only on weekdays.
• Bob's Juice - we got bagels (they were really good!) and filtered coffee here to go so we could eat while walking
• Ten Belles - also got coffee-to-go here one day
• Le Marais - Marche des Enfants Rouges was a cool farmers market with sit-down-&-eat options. The Picasso Museum was great (and free on Sunday). I did tons of window shopping here. Others have recommended it as a good area to stay in, but it got very touristy/shopper-y for me on the weekend (kinda like NYC's SoHo), and I think because we were here at the end of our trip, I was glad to stay somewhere less busy.
• Pigalle - Also quite Brooklyn-y (maybe Bushwick). We ate at Buvette, and drank at Dirty Dick (a tiki bar!) and Le Sans Souci - all were fun, and there were probably 10 other bars I'd read about in the area.
• Versailles - If you are going, and the train isn't running due to strikes or whatnot, you can do the metro to the bus, it's basically the same amount of time (at least from the Western part of Paris) ... the charter buses we saw were like 50 euro vs ~5 euro we spent on the metro/bus. This guide was awesome: http://parisbytrain.com/how-to-get-to-chateau-de-versailles-via-bus/. At Versailles (we did not wake up early enough to avoid the crowds), we skipped the audio guide because the line was ridiculous. My favorite parts were Marie Antoinette's place and all the gardens.

Austin Weekend

Downtown Austin (Westin hotel lobby)

I just spent a weekend in Austin with old friends and it was really fun. We all flew in from different cities around the country to catch up while hanging out somewhere new. We stayed in an Airbnb downtown and nearly all our activities were chosen thanks to recommendations from friends and colleagues...

Life Lately: F is for Fog

Is it fall?

#Fogust Activities: As summer wraps up I've been enjoying myself around San Francisco - riding a bike through Crissy Field and over the Golden Gate Bridge over to Sausalito, cheering on the Giants at home games, and hanging out at the Pistahan festival. Some days I have to wait a little longer for the fog to burn off to see the summer sun, and sometimes my outfit screams more autumn than summer, but overall it's a champagne problem, so I'll take it.

Finding (or Faking) Balance: NYMag's "How I Get It Done" series featured San Francisco's own Audrey Cooper, editor-in-chief of the Chronicle. My favorite quote:

“Gosh, you look really tired,” and I’m just like, "No, I’m just not wearing eyeliner." - NYMag

Food: I've fallen in love with these pancakes that need just 2-ingredients: eggs and bananas. They are ridiculously easy to make and are just sweet enough that you don't need syrup on them, either - though of course you may still want the syrup. I make a couple days' worth of breakfasts and reheat them each morning for a protein-packed meal. The recipe gets points for being Whole30 compliant, too. Check it out over on The Kitchn. 

Finances: This article on how Hillary Clinton became the breadwinner early on in her family life was something I really appreciated, in the sense that she wanted them to have security and wasn't just relying on someone else to fulfill or provide for that need. I'm sure a lot of people have a complicated relationship with money, though fortunately they won't all have to be written about in a major newspaper.

On a less serious note, I heard a great story from a Bay Area couple with kids. They were in a store buying sports equipment for one of them, but one of the items wouldn't scan correctly and the mom was investigating via her smart phone what the correct price should be. But her kid, frustrated at how long it was taking, insisted that they just buy it at whatever price since, as the kid said, "Mom, we are perfectly wealthy!" We were all howling. The mom, of course, did find the right price online, and the store honored it.

Workouts & Wellness: a ClassPass Review

one of my favorite stretches

Like many social media sites/apps/other tech innovations, it's almost hard to believe that ClassPass has been around for only a few years. The gym pass subscription service was started in 2013 by a couple genius women who understood that people want the variety available with all these specialty workout classes springing up, but may not want to be tied down to one boutique studio at a time (the post from Ignite Your Health is good to keep in mind). "Wellness" is a booming business now in addition to just being an all around healthy concept for your life.

Last month, there was an awesome promo and I finally took the opportunity to sign up. The deal for the 10-class edition for the Bay Area (normally $115 but $30 for 1 month with the promo) was too good to pass up. To quote a friend's usual joke, "You can't afford not to buy it!"

My recent exercise regimen has been jogging and weekend Pilates, so I used ClassPass to extend this to other types of exercises. Turns out the website is an amazing search engine for gyms, boutique studios and classes - I knew San Francisco was into fitness but on ClassPass I found so many studios I'd never heard of before. The studios and classes I attended were:

• Core 40 - 1 Foundation class
• BodyRok - 1 Sculpt class
• FightFit Training Center - 1 Krav Maga class, women only
• Row Club - 2 classes: RowGa (rowing & yoga) and regular rowing
• Body Chemistry - 1 Pilates class... but I've gone to this studio a lot, so it was out of habit, not exploration
• Rogue & Saint - 1 Board to Ball, cross-training class
• OMpower - 1 TRX class

Now that was only 8 classes, because I went to 2 other classes outside of ClassPass: another Pilates class at Body Chemistry with a friend and also, my very first Soul Cycle class, which I went to with a bunch of friends, including a couple other newbies - endorphin addiction is best shared, after all.

How did I pick the first batch of classes? Since I enjoy "regular" Pilates, I wanted to try Core40 and BodyRok on their megaformers. I'd always wanted to learn rowing, since one machine provides a full body workout. The cross-training class at Rogue & Saint was pretty cool and it had been a while since I last took a TRX class, which I really like. Finally, I chose the Krav Maga class so I could start learning something practical, too. All the classes were fast-paced and challenging, and while I would want to pay more attention to form and technique as I go on, the classes would be good cardio and strength-training sessions.

It wasn't always easy making it to class - but it's just a fact of life now that you really do have to schedule time for yourself and for your workouts, and not just watch celebs work out on Snapchat. It was fun trying out so many places, but since I am also running more often now and have some travel coming up, I put my ClassPass membership on hold for August ($19/mo to hold). At first I was incredulous that I had to pay for the hold, or risk a hefty reactivation fee, but then I realized the $19 "hold" still allows one class for the month. That was reasonable enough for me, although, if and when I do cancel ClassPass, the reactivation fee pretty much deters me from ever coming back. But for now I do plan to come back, and I'll just switch to the 5-class model afterward to accommodate my own non-ClassPass workout plans. Accommodation - another fact of life.

I've written before how I like switching up my workouts, so I think ClassPass can make that easier. I could see myself eventually settling on one or two studios, however, once I find the instructors I like best and the schedules that mesh with mine. I've gone through periods of busyness/laziness when it comes to fitness, but over the past few months I've tried to be more consistent and I've noticed results in my health and energy, so I'm using ClassPass to leverage this momentum. Any class or workout suggestions are most welcome in the comments.

tl:dr: Pros of ClassPass: good search feature; access to a variety of studios; pricing can be good if you're going to utilize it; month-to-month flexibility in changing membership level; ... Cons: limited in how many times you go to one studio each month; frequently being 'new' at studios; learning the styles of new instructors; watch the pricing, beware of the class cancellation and reactivation fees